Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i dont know about other people but before i got my big guy the biggest lizard i ever held was a bearded dragon.. man when i wen to get him was i surprised.. they may not look strong but they are.. do you know how many scars i have on my arms from my big guy? to many...lol i have one that was real deep. its on my right arm and it was probably deep enough for stiches.

how old are you? are you going to be able to handle a 6 maybe 7 foot lizard... but youll look at it and it will be mostly tail and youll go to pick him up and he will swing his tail and BAM youll hit the floor... they dont look straong but man do i ahve trouble holding onto my igg. when he gets his mind set on not being held he can put up one hell of a strugle.. im 18 and im strong and i have trouble holding onto my igg somedays....

And with the whole igg vs. ferret thing ferrets are easier to care for thats a given hands down.. but to each his own...

The other thing you have to think about is your future.. are you going to college? if so are you going to live at home? if not who will care for your animals? how are you going to pay for vet visits when you are in college? are you going to be able to support your igg when you start to drive? youd be surprised how toght money gets when you start driving gas insurance and stuff like that adds up real quick...

the other thing you have to realize is youll have to make desicions even give up stuff you like to do to support your igg. me i had to give up playing paintball.. something i have been doing for over 8 years.. from the time i started all i wanted to do was play on a sponsored team. i made it into one of the top teams in my area. and you know what? i gave it up.. why? becuase i had to support my igg.. do i look back on it? you bet your ass i do.. but would i change anything if i could go back.. hell no

Just make sure you think long and hard about getting another igg..

and the reason we jumped on you about adopting a male is becuase you were talking about breeding them maybe two or three posts down.. you get them sexed and they turn out to be female.. next thing your posting on here about getting a male... kinda sketchy dont you think? i do and so do toerh people on the board...

Also were not trying to be assholes.. we are just trying to help you.. its alot easy to pass up getting another igg now.. but it will eb alot harder to give up and igg that you get attatched to...

Just think it over and i hope you make the right choice... and sorry for rambling on and on..

Mike D
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1.0.0 adopted iguana
0.0.2 Hedgehogs

My Email

YOU DONT OWN YOUR IGUANA, YOUR IGUANA OWNS YOU

HAPPINESS IS LIKE PEEING ON YOURSELF, EVERYONE CAN SEE IT BUT ONLY YOU CAN FEEL THE WARMTH

Personally, I really am done with this kid. He acts like a defensive teenager that can't take constructive Criticism in the vein its meant. Yes, I posted that I doubted his iglets would make it to maturity and there's many reasons I say that that I'm not going to go into at the moment. Personally, I was forced to give up my Iguana rescue efforts due to health issues and had to find homes for all the Iguana's I kept. Even when healthy, taking care of multiple Iggy's in a house is a difficult thing. At any one time I housed 4 or 5 iguana's...Male and female...some with horrid burns...malnutrition.. MBD... URI... I even had one come in that had a rare form of bone cancer that isn't seen often in Iguana's but is documented. There wasn't much they could do for him... so I kept him happy, comfortable and loved until it was his time to go. All vet costs and housing costs came out of my own pocket at the time and it wasn't cheap. In a year myself and the people that helped me spent well over $2000 in vet bills and sometimes more trying to nurse these animals back to health.

6 years we did this for before I fell ill and had to give it up. Before those 6 years I would rescue one or two a year...but couldn't afford the numbers. I was still in school.. after I graduated though it was fair game. I know what work having Iguana's is.. and this kid seems to think the work level isn't going to increase exponentially from now until his iglets reach adulthood. Not to mention...I've seen some nasty wounds caused by iguana's to other individuals.. Male agression towards females...bites.. scratches.. welts.. broken bones and jaws... And its all because we cannot provide them the adequate space in captivity for them to satisfy their natural instincts. I think, of all species of lizard kept in captivity... the Iguana is the most unsuitable of all...Even Savannah Monitors aren't nearly as space and time consuming as Iguana's are. I should know.. I have one now and I had a rescue in the past that I rehomed.

Whats really sad is that kids like Espio go out and get these animals...like he did on the Spur of the moment originally....they learn a little about them...and then they don't want to hear anything else but what they want to hear..I would need the vet reports in my hands before I'd believe a word he said about the vet.. ANY vet that will tranquilize a reptile simply to probe and sex them at such a young age... I wouldn't expect to know what the real blood panel values are supposed to be. That vet should have his head examined. Anaethetics kill more reptiles than they help.. and to do so for no better reason than to sex them is endangering their life needlessly. And Espio should have HIS head examined for paying for such a procedure to be done, when, with a little time and patience, he'd have known the sex of the animals anyway. But, like any CHILD... patience isn't well known to him so I see NO reason I would encourage him to aquire a third iguana when he's impatient with one of his own already for not "Taming" down to his liking.

I'm willing to bet.. the one who DOES sit still for him to handle is more doing so out of fear than genuine like of being handled. When a lizard is forcibly handled they get the message they can't stop you.... so they go still and quiet hoping you won't eat them and will leave them alone soon. And from what Espio has said.. he "chases" them around the cage to catch them. I feel strongly this is the wrong thing to do. Until they get bitter, Iguana's are prey and as prey have a flight or fight instinct. What Espio is doing is triggering that everytime he reaches in the cage....Instead of doing so maybe he should give them a couple weeks to resettle and then do routine maintenance of the cage.. cleaning.. feeding.. etc. Get a few treats like Hibiscus flowers.. bananas or something similar and use them to entice his iglets closer to him. But.. I don't see him having the patience for that either.. so... Sorry this is so long.. but I truly am done with this one. I'm tired of the ignorant always saying... "I've done everything right. The vet says I am and that they look great" blah blah blah. Scan the vet record and post them.. then maybe I'll believe it.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.1.2 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 2 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice and Mystique))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

Yup mike i agree with everything you said. These iggys are much stronger than you think they will be. When ozzy wants down, watch out. Those legs get going 90 MPH and he can really get you with his claws. Thankfully Ozzy isnt much of a biter, but im always on guard just incase he gets that thought to do it. I find this whole thing with espio a bit frustrating, we are really trying to just give him the advice he ask for, he just doesnt like what we say. When i first came to this board i THOUGHT i knew how to care for ozzy, but boy i was wrong. I had been misinformed by well meaning people at the pet shop, and the girl i got him from. I really can thank the people here for letting me know what i needed to improve on, i now have a very healthy and happy iggy. Like when i got him he was in a cage that was about 2ft by 2ft square, and was told that should last him several years. Get a good chuckle out of that one as i look at this 6ft by 4ft monster of a cage sitting here in my living room. And i know that will need expanded as he gets older, but shhhh im not telling hubby that just yet lol. So to espio i would say is this about being RIGHT or about doing the best thing for you iggys? I can see why you might get defensive and feel your being attacked, but these people are really just trying to help you. They have your IGGYs best intrest at heart, the bigger question is do you? They just dont want to see you make a impulsive decision with getting a third iggy. Just really think it through. When ozzy was a little guy i could have seen getting another, now he is about 3ft long, no way. I know my limits, ihave my hands full with this guy, and he has streched the limits of my checkbook ya know. Sorry to ramble on, just wanted to throw in my two cents. Tami

full grown igs are alot harder to take care of then babys. they can really do some damage. im scratched up from head to toe. and now since i got my igs bigger cages, they have both turned on me. today my older male tried to bite me. he has never done that before he has always been the sweetest ig ive ever known. and a few days ago i posted about draco my adult female whiping me right across the face. they are very moody. do you think you can handle that? plus i have a uromastyx that got worms. it cost me 60 bucks to go to the vet. that dont sound to exspensive i know. but he has to go back for 2 more treetments. vet bills cost a lot. and it means you have to go with out what you need. i have needed new clothes for awhile now. but eveytime i have extra money. there is something that my iguanas or other reptiles need. you have to put them before yourself. if your ig gets sick and at the same time you have been saving for something you really wanted. what would you do with the money? take your ig to the vet? or buy that something you have been saving for? and remember if you get another that will be 3 times as much money.
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brandy